Telautograph apparatus



19 Apnl 27 A. N. VAN NOSTRAND TELAUTOGRAPH APPARATUS Filed July 24, l925- INVENTOR Y V 4 a6.

AT TORNEYS Patented Apr. 19, 1927.

PATENT OFFICE.

ARLEIGH N. VAN NOSTRAND, 0F FLUSHING, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO TELLLUTO- GRAPH CORPORATION, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION OF .VIRGINIA.

TELAUTOGRAPH APPARATUS.

Application filed July 24, 1925. Serial No. 45,732.

This invention relates to an improvement in telautograp-h transmitters and particularly to the stylus and stylus arms.

In a telautograph transmitter of the type now in common use, such as is shown in United States Patent No. 1,129,317 to G. S. Tiffany, granted Feb. 23, 1915, there are two rheostats, for each of which there is provided a contact roller, each roller being mounted on one arm of a bell-crank device whose other arm is connected by a universal joint to a stylus arm. The two stylus-arms are then joined by a universal joint neartheir outer ends, one of the arms projecting beyond this joint and being provided with a yoke, to which the stylus point itself is secured by a trunnion connected between the yoke and stylus point. The stylus handle is a barrel rotatable about its longer axis and is attached to the stylus point so as to permit this rotation of the stylus handle, but the stylus point cannot rotate about such axis.

The universal joint connecting the two stylus-arms comprises ayoke on the end of one arm, each jaw of the yoke carrying on its inner face a socket. The other stylusarm is provided with a rigidly attackd ball which is received in the sockets of the yoke of the other arm, the jaws of this yoke being pulled together by a screw which passes through a hole in one jaw and is threaded into the other jaw. In this construction the.

resiliency of the yoke tends to open the jaws and in pulling the jaws together to bring the sockets into engagement with the ball of the companion arm the screw Works in opposition to the resiliency of the oke jaws.

In practice it was found t at the prior apparatus had at least two serious objections.

First, the jaws of the yoke on one arm, above referred to, worked loose from the ball on the other arm, because the resilient force of the jaws acted in the direction to unscrew the screw, so that any jarring of the devices would back out the screw and thus allow the jaws to separate, and also because any wear of the ball or the sockets would cause a loose fit of the parts. This is very disadvantageous in a telautograph, because the pen of the receiving instrument should follow exactly the movement of the transmitter stylus, and, of course, any lost motion, in the writing plane, between the stylus point and the movable members of the rheostats willallow a movement of the stylus without a corresponding change of y resistance in the writing circuits and, hence, Will lead to a failure of the pen to reproduce accurately the movements of the stylus.

Second, where the stylus point is nonrotatable about the longitudinal axis of the yoke, the wear of the point was not uniform, and in practice the point finally wore until it approximated a. chisel or screw-driver edge. Even when the point was made of hardened steel this wear took place, so that in time the free operation of thestylus by the hand of the operator became diflicult and unpleasant.

It is the object of the present invention to overcome these defects.

\Vith these general objects in view the invention consists in so arranging the stylus point and handle or barrel that the two will rotate together with relation to the yoke, which connects them to the transmitter arms, and also in so connecting the two transmitter arms to each other and to the stylus that all lost motion will be avoided.

The invention will first be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation, partly broken away, of a disassembled stylusembodying the invention;

Figure 2 a detail 'plan view of the means for connecting the stylus arms;

Figure 3 an elevation of the stylus arms and stylus, and

{figure 4 a. detail view of the connecting yo (e.

Referring to drawings, and particularly to Figure 1, A is a stylus point member comprising a stem or shaft a and a head (1 the latter being of larger diameter than the shaft so as to form a shoulder, as shown. The head has its end rounded to form a suitable writing point. This writing pointmay be given any desired suitable shape, but in practice it has been found best to make it approximately hemispherical, as shown.

At B is shown a collar, this being anranged to fit snugly, but rotatably, on the shaft a} of the stylus point member. The collar B is provided with. trunnions arranged to be carried by the stylus-holding yoke of the transmitter arms, as more fully explained hereinafter. For the purpose of attaching the trunnions to the collar, the latter is'formed with a groove extendm in a circumferential direction about hal way around the collar. The trunnions are formed from a piece of wire whose central portion is bent to an are, which is laced n the groove in the collar and secure there 111 any suitable way, as, for example, b soldering or brazing. The projecting en s of the wire form the trunnions, which are arranged to extend outward from the collar in a radial direction. In the drawings, the bent w re s shown in Fig. 1,, the trunnions being indicated at b.

On the end of-the shaft or stem a of the stylus point member, outside the collar, there is mounted a sleeve member C which may be pressed snugly against the collar and then be pinned to the shaft a of the stylus point member by a transverse pin, as indicatedat o. By this construction a worn stylus point. may readily be removed and replaced by a new one. The sleeve member C has a shan portion 0 which is provided with a circumferential roove.

On the sham portion c of the sleeve member G is secured a barrel D which forms the handle of the stylus. This barrel is a tube, whose internal diameter is such that the shank portion 0 will fit into it tightly. The tube may then be spun or pressed into the groove in the said shank portion, so as to prevent the withdrawal of the barrel from the shank.

"When desired the barrel may be provided with a knob, as indicated at E, which aids in giving a proper balance to the stylus in the hands of the operator when writing and also enables the operator readily to pick up the stylus from the transmitter table. Also this knob is large enough to prevent the stylus from entering the opening in the transmitter casing through which the stylus arms of the transmitter project. This knob is usually made of some light composition such as is known as Egyptian fibre.

The stylus-arms of the transmitter are in dicated at F and F Fig. 3. Each arm has a ball fixed to it at one end, as indicated at 1, 2, respectively, these balls being arranged to be mounted in socket-devices carried by the respective bell-crank arms of the transmitter rheostat (not shown). As this construction is old and well known, no detailed description is necessary.

One of the st lus arms, in this case the arm F, is rovi ed at its extreme end with a stylus ho ding yoke 3 comprising a central member and two jaws. Each jaw is pro vided with an opening, these openings serving as the bearings for the trunnions b on the collar B. The len tlrof the yoke 3 from the bend or fork to t e bearings is greater than the distance from the point of- .the stylus to its trunnion, so that the stylus point can be swung entirely through the yoke. This insures that there can be no cramping ot' the stylus against the fork of the yoke.

The arm F is also provided with a rigidlyattached ball 4 located nearthe stylus yoke. 10

The other arm F is provided at its extreme end with a connecting yoke, which has two jaws 5 and 6. This yoke is made by bendinf at its center a strip of resilient material, suc as a strip of metal, adva'ntageousl phosphor bronze. The yoke is then soldere to the end of the arm F As the bending of the metal and the soldering tends to weaken this part of the metal a reinforcing member is provided for the yoke. In the present example this is in the form of a small rod or pin 7 passed throughholes in the jaws 5 and 6, this pin having a head at one end and being riveted at the other end. It is to be understood that the pin 7 fits tightly into the holes in the yoke. This reinforcing member, or pin 7, confines the resilient action of the jaws to that portion of the jaws outside said pin, so that any movement of the jaws to or from each other will not be transmitted to the less resilient metal at the bent portion of the yoke.

The jaws are provided near their outer ends with sockets in which the ball 4 on the arm F is received. The jaws 5 and 6 are so arranged that they tend, by their resiliency, to clamp the hall 4, so that when inserting the ball 4 into its sockets, it is necessary to spring the jaws 5 and (l apart. So soon as the ball is inserted, the jaws are allowed to spring back toward each other and thereby to clamp the ball. To prevent the jzrws being accidentally sprung apart sufficiently to free the ball 4 from its sockets, a stop device is provided to limit the movement of the jaws in the direction away from each other. In the present example, this stop or limiting device is a screw 8 having the usual slotted head, and having its other end reduced in diameter and screw-threaded, the reduced end forming a shoulder which seats against the inner wall of the jaw 6 iiito which the reduced end of the screw is screwed tightly. The other jaw has a hole through which the smooth stem of the screw passes somewhat loosely. The length of the screw is such that when the shoulder on the reduced end is in contact with the inner wall of the jaw 6, the inner face of the screw-head cannot exert any pressure on the jaw 5. To insure this it may be advisable to have the screw length such that there is a very slight clearance between the screw-head and the jaw 5. The drawin shows this clearance much exaggerate This clearance, if any exists, is not sufficient to allow the jaws to separate sufiiciently to allow the ball 4 to be released from the jaws. By this construction the 'aws are free to press against the ball 4 sn ciently to avoid any lost motion of the ball in its sockets,

while at the same time no accidental jerk or pull on the stylus will pull the ball 4 out of the jaws.

By the construction of stylus hereinbefore described, the stylus may, during use, he so rotated about its longitudinal axis, that the wear on the stylus point will be uniform, thereby maintaining a properly rounded point which will move smoothly over the platen in all directions. Furthermore, the construction of the stylus is such that the collar will have almost no play in the direction of the axis of the stvlus.

It has been found that by the construction described a more accurate reproduction by the writing pen of the writing movements of the stylus is obtained and maintained, which was not the case with the prior construction in general use.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. In a telautograph, the combination, with the two transmitter stylus-arms, of a stylus-holding yoke and a ball at one end of one arm, a connecting yoke at one end of the other arm, said connecting yokehaving two resilient jaws provided with sockets to receive the ball on the first mentioned arm, said jaws being arranged to press yieldingly on the ball, means for preventing movement of the jaws away from each other, thereby preventing the release of the ball from said connecting yoke, and a stylus mounted in the stylus-holding yoke.

2. In a tclautograph, the combination, withthe two transmitter stylus-arn'is, of a stylus-holding yoke and a ball at one end of one arm, a connecting yoke at one end of the other arm, said connecting yoke. having a bentportion and two resilient jaws provided with sockets to receive the ball on the first mentioned arm, means for limiting the movement of the jaws away from each other to prevent the. release of the ball from said connecting yoke. a reinforcing member rigidly securing the jaws together near the bent portion of the yoke to prevent any movement of the jaws extending to the bent portion of the yoke, and a stylus mounted in the. stylus-holding yoke.

3. In a telautograph, the combination, with two transmitter stylus-arms, one of which carries a stylus-holding yoke, and means for providing a universal connection between said arms near said yoke, of a collar having trunnions mounted in said yoke, and a stylus comprising a stylus-point member provided with a shaft and an enlarged portion, said shaft extending through the collar and being rotatable therein, the enlarged portion contacting with said collar, a sleeve fitting over the end of the shaft, contacting with said collar and being secured rigidly to said shaft, and a barrel secured to said sleeve.

4. In a telautograph, the combination, with two transmitter stylus-arms, one of which carries a stylus-holding yoke, and means for providing a universal connection between said arms near said yoke, of a collar having trunnions mounted in said yoke, and a stylus comprising a. stylus point member provided with a shaft and an enlarged portion, said shaft having a transverse pin hole and extending through the collar and being rotatable therein, the enlarged portion contacting with said collar, a sleeve fitting over the end of the shaft of the stylus point member and arranged to contact with said collar, said sleeve having a transverse pin hole registering with the pin hole in said shaft, a pin passing through said pin holes in the sleeve and shaft, and a barrel secured to said sleeve.

5. In a telautograph. the combination, with two transmitter stylus-arms, and means for providing a universal connection between said arms, of a st vlus holding yoke secured to the end of one of the said stylusarms and provided with-trulmion-bearings, a collar having trunnions mounted in said trumiion-bearings in the yoke, a stylus held in said collar and rotatable therein about the longitudinal axis of said stylus, said stylusholding yoke having a length from its fork to .the trunnion-bearings greater than the distance from. the stylus point to the trunnions, whereby the stylus point can be swung through said yoke.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

ARLEIGH N. VAN NOSTRAND.

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